The kooks seem to be winning. Who is paying attention to what is going on around us?

Prairie dogs have assumed an elevated status. This furry little rodent, carrier of the Black Plague virus, has managed to delay the construction of the Rail Runner track into Santa Fe and is increasing the cost of the project.

The road fund has been raided by the dominant party in the Legislature to the point where needed road repair and construction are to be halted with a consequent loss of 5,400 construction jobs.

Congress is obsessed with dinging the president and can’t pass a bill to fund vital research at New Mexico’s two nuclear laboratories. The responsible party in Congress, the Democrats, is working to slash the laboratories’ budgets so as to have money for pet social, vote-getting programs.

Is the threat to our country’s safety so much less today than it was four, five or 10 years ago? Our chameleon governor, whose position changes with his environment, was all for helping Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories with their precarious position in Congress while running for governor – until questioned by a Monitor reporter, whom he ignored and refused to answer her on his position vis--vis the labs, as a presidential candidate.

Our neighbor to the east, Santa Fe, has definitely gone nuts on taxes, with proposals for a property transfer tax, a special tax on soft drinks and other taxes. They seems to have a new proposal every week.

They would suck in revenue from all the smaller communities around them.

Now comes the governor to implement new “green” standards on new automobiles sold in New Mexico. These are standards currently imposed on residents of California. The proposal is before the Environmental Improvement Board for hearings before implementation.

It will increase the cost of new autos and limit our choices.

This is all in the name of and in reaction to global warming.

Nonsense! The planet may be warming but man’s role in the process is minimal at best and political efforts to exploit this are shameful. Scientific evidence is contradictory or lacking.

Is everyone asleep? The box that limits our choices is getting smaller and smaller.